LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said Tuesday he will appeal U.S. District Judge John Heyburn's ruling ordering the state to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside the state, despite an announcement minutes earlier by state Attorney General Jack Conway that the A.G.'s office would not appeal.

"The State will hire other counsel to represent it in this case," the governor said in a prepared statement.

"The question of whether state constitutional provisions prohibiting same-sex marriage violate the U.S. Constitution is being litigated across the country," Beshear continued. "Here in Kentucky, Judge Heyburn has ruled that Kentucky's constitutional provision does so to the extent that same sex marriages legally performed elsewhere are not recognized in Kentucky. Judge Heyburn also currently has under consideration the broader question of whether Kentucky's provision prohibiting same sex marriage in Kentucky violates the U.S. Constitution, and I anticipate that decision in the near future. Both of these issues, as well as similar issues being litigated in other parts of the country, will be and should be ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in order to bring finality and certainty to this matter. The people of this country need to know what the rules will be going forward. Kentucky should be a part of this process."

The governor said he respects the strong emotions and beliefs of Kentuckians on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate and believes that "an orderly process will bring certainty and finality to this important matter."

Fred Guttenberg, the father of Jaime Guttenberg, one of the 17 killed last week in Parkland, FL, pressed Sen. Marco Rubio on the role of guns and assault weapons in the shooting during a CNN town hall event on Wednesday, Feb. 21. (Source: CNN)

Senator Marco Rubio faced a barrage of tough questioning related to gun control and the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida at a CNN town hall event on Wednesday.